


The Great Divide Chapter 9: Dance With The Devil

by Antigravity_Carnivore



Series: The Great Divide [9]
Category: Breaking Benjamin (Band), STARSET (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst, Computers, Dark, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F.E.C., Fluff and Angst, Inspired by Music, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Music, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 05:38:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11525649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antigravity_Carnivore/pseuds/Antigravity_Carnivore
Summary: Dustin Bates confronts Thomas Bell, and finds out what is plan is for the Messengers, but is it too late?





	The Great Divide Chapter 9: Dance With The Devil

The Great Divide Chapter 9: Dance with the Devil

Brock walked out the door, slamming it behind him. He left me again, walking out of my life and my heart sank. I stood alone in the dimly lit room feeling completely shattered. There were so many unresolved feelings between the two of us about my relationship with Benjamin that were eating us up from the inside. It was almost unbearable. I bent down and picked up the key card from the floor and clutched it in the palm of my hand, staring at the door. My fingers dug into it and I held it so tightly I thought that I might shatter it. I had disappointed him once again. It was a constant struggle of emotions where Brock and Benjamin were concerned. I loved each of them, in a different way, and until I would be able to make a choice, I knew that I would have to live with the pain. The problem was that I didn't want to choose between the two of them. Losing either of them would be like losing part of me, and I could never live like that.

I waited for several moments before stepping outside to make sure he was gone. I didn't know his plan on how to reverse the effects of the visor, a flaw on my part; I should have made him tell me. I didn't want my actions to interfere with what he had to get done. I walked slowly through the abandoned corridors of the base, safe for the moment, trying to come up with some plan of action in my head. I wasn't concealed in Carnivore gear like Brock was, so I couldn't move freely among them. If I were to get to the prison cells, I would have to do it cautiously and carefully. I knew that if I got caught, they would either rip me apart on sight, or drag me to Thomas, both options surely meant death. I continued my walk back through the halls until I reached the first area that was being heavily patrolled. There were no alerts, so it was obvious that my absence was not detected yet. Thomas was probably still trying to regain control of the assault Carnivores that Brock had temporarily taken offline. I leaned up against the wall, clutching the card in my hand and trying to come up with some sort of plan, when I noticed the patrolling Carnivores all suddenly stopped moving, slumping over and deactivating. This was Brock's doing! I knew it. He took out the assault troops earlier, and now he was taking out the patrol ones as well. I was on my feet in seconds, sprinting down the hall as fast as I could toward the holding cells. By the time I made it there, I was in extreme pain and gasping for breath, the crude stitches that Browning had sewed my wounds up with were now torn open and the bleeding had begun again. I paid it no mind, and instead quickly scanned the card Brock had left me and entered the confinement cells. I went over to the last one where Browning and Lizzie were held and yelled to them.

“Browning, Lizzie, get up, we're getting out of here.” Lizzie was on her feet in seconds, rushing over to the electronic gate as I scanned the card and opened it, and hugging me tightly, it only made the crushing pain in my chest hurt more.

“Dustin! How did you get free?” She stepped away and noticed the fresh blood stains. “Oh no, your wounds have reopened, we need to get them closed as fast as possible.”

Doctor Browning joined her and I handed him the card. “There's no time for that, get those doors open. The Carnivore patrols are offline for a few minutes, I don't know for how long. It's best that we make our way out of here with haste. If they catch us, we're all dead.”

Browning moved from cell to cell, deactivating the doors and releasing the injured Messengers. Once everyone was free, he turned to me and gave me a gruff look. “Now that we're all free, where do you propose we go? The minute we step outside of this base, we're sitting ducks for those Creatures to hunt us down like a pack of wild dogs.”

Reaching out, I grabbed the card away from him and slipped it back into my pocket. “There are a series of tunnels that run underneath the base, don't bother asking me how I know about them, just follow me. I will take you to them and then I want you to lead everyone through them. There is a guide at the end of the tunnel waiting to take you all to the Messenger base in the north.” Before he could say another word, I was moving out, Lizzie at my heels quickly following behind. I led them through the carnage and maze of halls to the wooden door and entrance beyond. “I don't know how far it goes, but I know that it will lead everyone to safety. Once you’re out, tell the other Messengers that this base has been lost and avoid it at all costs. Have them increase their defenses and prepare for a possible strike. I don't know what Thomas will do once he's realized that you all have escaped.”

“Mr. Bates, you're staying behind, why?” Lizzie asked, her eyes showing concern and sympathy for me.

Browning stepped forward into the room and near the entrance to the tunnels and scowled at me. “Isn’t it obvious? He's staying behind to look for Benjamin.” The tone in his voice was harsh and laced with pure hatred. He reached out and grabbed Lizzie's arm. “Come on, let's get out of here, and leave him to his own doom. It’s no business of ours.”

Lizzie wiggled free of his grasp and took a few steps away from him. “No, I want to stay!” She looked at me and then back at Browning. “Did you forget that you're a god damn doctor, Stephen?” She pointed at me. “Look at him, he was tortured and can barely stand on his feet. He's doing everything he can to get us all out of here with little regard to his own health! How dare you be so rude and disrespectful! I can't take it anymore. I am going with him. He needs medical attention and if you won't give it to him and stick to the oath you took then to hell with you... I WILL!”

The doctor looked as if he was suddenly struck dumb. His bruised jaw hung slightly open and his eyes were wide and fixed on her as she shouted at him. It only took him a few moments though to recover from her verbal lashing and offer up his own retort. “You can do whatever you want Lizzie. Follow this madman if you will, but I will warn you, he's probably marching off to his own death and will take you down with him at the first chance he gets.” Browning waited until the last of the Messengers made their way down the tunnel and then moved to enter as well. “Be warned though that this bastard is hell bent on finding Commander Burnley, he doesn't care about any of us, not really. I would never put my life on the line for someone like that, and neither should you. He’s a stranger here. Remember that.” Browning shot me one more scowling glance and then ducked into the tunnels.

I thought about his words for a moment, in a way, they weren't far from the truth. I wanted to find Ben, but now I also had to find Brock as well, I couldn’t leave either of them behind. Ever since Brock said that he could reverse the effects of the visor, I had this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that something about it felt wrong. Brock's motives confused me. He didn't know Thomas personally, so why would he be so adamant about wanting to help him?

 

After the last of the Messengers disappeared into the darkness of the tunnels, Lizzie turned towards me and spoke quietly. “I know we’re short on time, but please let me re-wrap those wounds Mr. Bates. It will only take a moment.” I nodded to her and sat down on the table, unbuttoning my shirt. No words passed between us, but we both knew that this could possibly be a suicide mission. She pushed the fabric down away from my shoulders and let it drop down to the table. Using nimble fingers, she untied the rough knots of fabric that was wrapped around my chest and started to unfurl the cloth. Each inch that pulled away took with it layers of dried blood and tissue that had stuck to it. I winced as she got closer to the end, holding my breath in my lungs; I closed my eyes and cringed as she exposed the wounds to the open air. Each of the five penetrating lacerations burned hot as a searing white hot coal on my chest. I glanced down to see that they were crudely stitched up with sewing thread and there were spots on each where the sutures had pulled open, seeping fresh blood down onto my skin. Lizzie scooted around the room, picking up some discarded rags from a corner that looked reasonably clean and with tender, shaking hands, slowly began to wipe away as much as she could. “I am sorry Mr. Bates. This never should have happened to you. None of this should have ever happened.”

 

“Dustin. Please call me Dustin.” I smiled at her. She blushed and lowered her face. “Lizzie, you have nothing to be sorry for. No one person is at fault here. There’s no sense in placing blame. Things just got out of control so fast that there was no way of stopping it. Life is like that sometimes, all you can do is just ride it out and hope for the best.”

 

Pulling some new scraps of fabric out of her pocket, she clutched them in her small hands tightly, wringing them over and over between her fingers. She spoke in a very small voice, which was very meek and childlike. “I could have stopped it.”

 

I looked at her in astonishment. “What did you say?”

 

She took a few steps away from me and kept her head bowed down. “I am the one who gave the files from Commander Burnley’s computer to Thomas. It’s my fault that the location was discovered. Brock contacted me and told me that something bad was about to happen and to go pull all the information off the Commander’s computer and hide it. But then… Thomas… he found me and said that he needed it, and so I handed it over to him. Thomas sent all the information back to the F.E.C. who then issued a strike against the Messengers. They rewarded him by giving him a hoard of Carnivores and full control over the ‘sanitation’ of the base.” Her eyes began to well up with tears. She reached up and wiped at them with the sleeve of her shirt, smearing dirt across her face. “I never thought things would go this far! I really didn’t.”

 

I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. I looked over to her and saw that she was avoiding my gaze and crying. “Why Lizzie? After he killed Dr. Wise in cold blood and then tried to kill Ben, why would you ever hand over information like that to him? What could possibly have been the reason for you to even think that it would be okay?”

 

She took the fabric in her hands and threw it across the room. “Because I love him!” She shouted, and was suddenly very ashamed of her outburst. “When I came here after escaping the F.E.C., I had no family, no friends, nothing. Brock trusted me to report things back to him, and I felt as though I couldn’t get close to anyone because of this. He gave me such an important task, I was so afraid of failing, so I chose to keep my distance from everyone and watch.” Lizzie stopped crying and started adjusting the sleeve of her shirt that she was wiping her face with. “After a while of excluding yourself from others, loneliness starts to kick in. I found myself becoming depressed and paranoid all the time, wondering if I was going to be caught for being a spy, and what the Messengers would do to me if they found out. I didn’t want to go back to the F.E.C. that would be a fate worse than death. Then one day while working in the infirmary, Thomas came in and introduced himself to me. He shook my hand and the moment I looked up into his handsome face, I was in love. Most people don’t believe in love at first sight, and I didn’t either, until it happened to me. He said that he was sorry for not coming to introduce himself earlier, but his duties caught up to him, and he got overwhelmed. He was so charming and sweet to me; he even gave me a tour of the entire base that very day, and then asked me to share dinner with him because he felt terrible for making me wait so long before a proper introduction. Oh it was a wonderful night! We sat together outside eating our mediocre food and enjoying each others company. He told me all about a new communication system that he was working on that could send messages into the past or future, he was so thrilled about it. There was even potential to send people back in time, or to alternate reality for a short period too. Very exciting stuff! His eyes positively lit up when he went over each technical aspect of it. I’ve never seen someone be so animated and alive as I did when hearing him talk about it. As the night grew late, and it was time to head in, he walked me back to my quarters and kissed me on the cheek, that one simple kiss was laced with such emotion and feelings, that I thought my heart was going to break. Here was this man, delightful and charming, but a bit shy and insecure, paying attention to a lowly, plain person like me. I lay in bed that night and thought about him, and about this place, and I knew that this was now my home; these people would be my family. I didn’t have to be afraid of getting close to anyone. Thomas gave me something to believe in, just like he gave the people here a leader.” As she finished her story, she walked over and picked up the roll of fabric she had dropped and dusted it off, turning it over and over in her hands. “That bloody F.E.C. visor did something to him, it changed him, but even still, I am convinced that he can be reasoned with. That’s why I wanted to remain behind with you, Dustin, just for one chance to get to talk to Thomas. I am not giving up on him. No one deserves to get left behind.”

 

I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms, giving her a gentle, tender hug. The strips of fabric she was holding in her hands fell out and dropped down to the floor again. At first she didn’t move, didn’t react, but I refused to let her go. I held onto her tightly, smoothing her hair down over her shoulders until she relaxed and slipped her arms around my back, finally letting go and closing her eyes. I could feel her warm tears drop down onto my skin. I knew how she was feeling. When you feel as though your whole world is crashing down around you, things spiraling out of control, all you want is someone, something to hold on to. You desperately reach out, your fingers aching, stretching, trying to find something, anything to grasp, but it all falls away, leaving you terrified and alone. She was in love with Thomas, willing to sacrifice her own life for him.. “Lizzie?” I asked, still holding onto her.

 

“Hmm?” she mumbled.

“Does Thomas know how you feel about him? Have you ever told him?” I asked.

She slipped out of my arms and picked up the fabric again, taking a moment to collect herself and then started fussing with it, straitening it out as best as she could. “No. I could never bring myself to tell him, and I regret that now. After Commander Burnley arrived, I knew that I lost my chance. When they were together, it was… wonderful. Everything that Thomas lacked, self-confidence, courage, etc, Commander Burnley had, and everything that the Commander lacked, which was very little, like subtlety and compassion for strangers, Thomas had. It was the perfect team. They didn’t make their relationship public, but everyone knew about it. Most approved, except for a few closed minded people. Even knowing this, I still had feelings for Thomas.” She put her hands against my chest, and looked straight into my eyes. “Just because someone you love is taken by another person, doesn’t mean that you have to stop loving them.” I felt her cool fingers against my flesh linger for a moment, and then she started to bandage my wound. “It means that you have to love them in a different way.” I thought about her words, and how I had seen a different reality when Brock injected me with the drug that rendered me unconscious, where both Brock and Ben were with others, and I felt the exact same way. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to stop loving either one of them. My heart wouldn’t allow it. 

As she finished wrapping the wounds, she turned away as I pulled my shirt back on, a modest sign of courtesy. “Lizzie, there’s something that you have to know.”

“Oh?”

“Brock found a way to reverse the effects of the visor.” Her face lit up with excitement. “That’s why he is here, he wants to help Thomas.”

“How is it done? What do we have to do?” She asked. “Whatever it is, we can do it. I don’t care if we have to take all of those bloody beasts down with us. We have to get him back! Please Dustin!”

I finished buttoning up my shirt, leaving the top button open. I realized that an important part of my ensemble was missing, my bow tie. The Carnivores had taken it off of me when they ripped my shirt open to torture me, and I felt a little naked. Thomas had my glasses too. I frowned. That man was taking everything away from me. I wanted to kill him for what he had done to Ben. I had no remorse or sympathy for him. Lizzie was hopeful that he could return to normal, but I wanted him dead. We seemed to be on opposite sides of the fence on this issue. I thought about it for long moments. I didn’t want to make my opinion known yet, I had to work with her, she knew her way around the base better than I did. For now, I could cooperate.“Yes Lizzie, I will help you, I promise, but.. if something goes wrong, and it doesn’t work then… “

“It will work, Dustin. Don’t worry!” she flashed me a smile. I was praying that this wasn’t a mistake.

I clutched the key card in my hand. “We need Brock. Can you contact him?” I asked.

Lizzie frowned. “I am not sure. I mostly sent him messages back to the F.E.C. base, but you said he’s here…Wait! Do you know if he was he wearing a small communication device on his wrist? Something that would look like a mini computer perhaps?” I nodded to her, remembering the surveillance footage of him at the perimeter. “If it’s still active, I think that he might be able to receive messages on that if he’s paying attention to it, but I need to get to a computer first.”

“Brock left me with this card for complete access to any part of the base here, I am not worried about finding a computer, it’s the Carnivores going back online that is the frightening part. I think they are still down, but I don’t know for how much longer. We should probably get moving. Can you lead us to the nearest terminal?” I asked, anxious to get moving. 

Lizzie nodded and together, we slipped out of the room, and slowly started our ascent to the upper levels of the facility. While we walked, I noticed that there was still emergency power only. Some of the lights that had been damaged during the attack hung down and occasionally flickered, giving everything a strange, ghostly green sheen to it. The blood that once spilled and smeared out on the floors had since dried, leaving behind thick dark spots that showed up in random places on the floor. Lizzie led the way, back around service corridors and maintenance tunnels in an effort to avoid being spotted. Luck was with us, and eventually we made it to a series of rooms that were, for the most part, basically intact. As we approached one of the doors, Lizzie brought out her card and scanned it. I looked at her in confusion. “These are my personal quarters.” She shrugged and entered. I checked the hallway one last time to be sure we weren’t being tracked before following her inside.

Looking around, I could see that it was a modest room, filled with paintings, presumably done by herself, and stacks upon stacks of medical books. She noticed me looking at them while she took a seat at the computer. “Thomas found those out in the ruins. He brought them back for Commander Burnley, because he had such a love for antiques like that. They were remarkably well preserved for being out in the elements for a long time, locked up in a trunk.” She stretched out her legs under the desk and booted up the computer. “Most of the books are medical manuals, for diagnosing various ancient diseases and conditions that have long since been cured. The Commander didn’t seem to really appreciate the gift, for some unknown reason and asked Thomas to destroy them. Since he put so much effort into bringing them back here, he didn’t want to get rid of them, so he gifted them to me. I’ve read every single one from cover to cover. I am completely fascinated with how patients were treated long ago. Most methods are considered barbaric today, but still it’s an entertaining read. I guess Commander Burnley’s interests didn’t include those in the medical field.”

I picked up one of the books and leafed through it, remembering how sick Ben was in the past. He was dying of some mysterious disease that they couldn’t diagnose or cure. Somehow, those feelings of frustration, not knowing what is wrong with you and how to cure it transcended to this reality. Ben was healthy here, but part of him still hung on to the past, and all those emotions. I couldn’t bear the thought of being without him. He was like a drug in my life. I had to have it constantly or else I’d start to panic and fall apart. Whenever I was around him, my life was in turmoil, but I didn’t care. I welcomed it. As long as he was in my life, I could learn to deal with anything and everything. I would love him in whatever reality we were in. 

“Mr. Bates? Er.. Dustin?” Lizzie was staring at me. I gently put the book down on the table and joined her at the computer. A screen was open, showing Brock’s Comm device. It was open and active.

“It worked? Can you send him a message?” I asked, my eyes frantically darting around the various bits of information all over the screen.

Furrowing her brow, he pointed at the screen. “Yes it’s active, we can send a message, but…” she trailed off, her fingers typing in some numbers and then shook her head. “I’m connected to his device, that’s definite.”

“But what, Lizzie?” I asked, getting more than a little annoyed. 

She pushed her chair back a little from the desk so that I could move in for a closer look. “Every one of these Comms are built specifically for their user. They continuously send data to a central server where it can be monitored for any changes. It’s also how the F.E.C. keeps tabs on all their members. Brock found a way to hack his and make some changes, so his position wouldn’t be shown, but most of the other data streaming to it is correct and untouched.”

“Okay so we just don’t know exactly where he is in here, that’s fine, we just need to get a message to him.”

 

Once again, Lizzie pointed at the screen, frowning and a little disappointed that I didn’t know how to read the data that was being presented on the screen. “See these numbers and this algorithm here, along with vital signs?” I nodded to her. “Take a closer look.” I leaned in and glanced at the monitor. The numbers meant absolutely nothing to me. The rising and falling bars of colors were nothing but eye candy. I hated playing games, what was she trying to show me? Then I saw it. Near the bottom of the screen, in a very tiny box displayed the blood type of the person wearing the device. In bright green letters, the letters “A positive” flashed. Brock’s blood type was O negative. My eyes widened and Lizzie nodded at me. “Someone else has his Comm device.” I walked away from her, running my fingers through my hair and pacing through the room. Something happened to him, and it was my fault. I foolishly let him go after Thomas alone, what was I thinking? Damn it, I knew exactly what was on my mind. Benjamin. I was so concerned with not leaving the base without Ben, that I wasn’t paying attention to what Brock was about to do. I didn’t even know if Benjamin was still in the Messenger’s facility, no one knew where he was, but here I was, willing to abandon him to the wolves just so I could go hunt down Ben again. I was making the same stupid mistakes all over again! “What are we going to do?” Lizzie whispered.

I wasn't the type of person to make plans, or plot out missions. Why was this burden suddenly placed on my shoulders? I was a singer in a rock band somewhere far away; I was nothing here on Prox. I couldn't be the natural born leader like Benjamin was, I couldn't persuade people to follow me and rally them against others, like Thomas. The feeling of helplessness was overwhelming. I wished that Brock was here, I wished that Ben was here. How could they leave me all alone like this? I wanted to smash things in frustration and anger. I moved away from Lizzie again and walked around the room, lost in thought. She sat at her chair, her hands resting on the keyboard, staring at the screen looking as helpless as I felt. We both knew the grim reality of what we were facing. There had to be a way out of this, a way to find Ben, rescue Brock and clear Thomas’s head of nonsense. It just seemed like too much. All I wanted was is to write music and share it with the world, not make decisions that could possibly cost people their lives. 

A sudden, loud click at the door caught my attention, Lizzie and I looked to each other, startled. I motioned for her to be silent and I made my way across the room and pressed my head against the thick metal. Nothing. I waited a few moments, my heart started to race. I reached up to push the button to release the door. I turned around to see Lizzie shake her head but I ignored her. My fingers hovered over the button. I had to know what, or who was out there. Taking a breath and preparing myself for the worst, I pushed down on the button hard, but nothing happened. The doors remained shut tight. I glanced over to Lizzie, who had moved slightly back from her desk now, and was moving further back into the room, moving as far away from the door as she could. I pressed the button again, it didn’t respond. I pulled the all access key card out of my pocket and tapped it to the sensor. The panel lit up a bright red color, not allowing the door to open. We were locked in. Confused, I stared at it, and then started to feel a cold breeze shoot down from the overhead ceiling vents. I looked up to see a thick, noxious gas begin to pour from the opening, which immediately began to fill my lungs. I started to cough, and put my hand over my face in an effort to prevent breathing any more of it. In a panic, I tried the door again, but it wouldn’t budge. My lungs were filling up with the gas, burning them, making it difficult to breathe. In a desperate effort, I took a few steps back and charged at the door, running at full pace and trying to force it open. The steel refuse to budge, even an inch. The entire room was now becoming enveloped in the gas, making it difficult to see. I heard a thump behind me, and spun around, trying to find Lizzie. I couldn’t see anything. Bumping into several objects, I stumbled and tried my best to keep my hand over my nose and mouth. I finally made my way over to the desk she was sitting at, and found her toppled over chair, but no sight of her. The gas volume in the room increased and now I found my eyes becoming incredibly heavy, and a distressing tiredness overcoming me. I had to fight it, I had to find Lizzie and get us out of here. They found us somehow. I bumped into a small table and fell down to the floor, my knees no longer supporting me. I was so tired. My head fell against the lush, soft carpeting; everything seemed to be moving in slow motion now. The door slid open and I saw the Carnivores file inside, heading straight for me, and their black robes flowing out behind them. Ben, where are you? I need you. Help me. Please. I closed my eyes and resigned myself to my fate. 

I felt soft, cold hands touching me, and heard a voice whispering to me. “Mr. Bates? Dustin? Can you hear me? Wake up please.” I lifted my head up, despite a rather painful aching in my neck and opened my eyes. Lizzie was standing in front of me; there were drawn, dark circles under her eyes. “Give it a few minutes Mr. Bates, the nerve gas causes disorientation upon consciousness, you will be okay soon, just sit back and breathe.”

“Lizzie?” I asked. I leaned my wobbly, heavy head back and forced my eyes to remain open, only to be greeted by the harsh fluorescent overhead lighting. I blinked against the bright light and inhaled deeply, still feeling remnants of the noxious gas in my lungs. I glanced around, medical equipment, computers, charts and graphs. I was back in the infirmary. I tried to sit up, and then realized that I had been tied down to an exam chair, wrists and ankles bound with thick leather straps, padded with a soft foam material to prevent the patient from harming himself. I wiggled my wrists and pulled at the cuffs, looking at Lizzie curiously. The look of guilt on her face was great. But she still managed to smile at me. “Please Mr. Bates, don’t try to struggle, or else you might tear out those sutures again. Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”

“What is going on here?” 

She reached out and touched my arm. “Shhhh just stay calm. Thomas will be out to see you in a few moments, to explain everything, but you need to relax.”

“Thomas? Oh god Lizzie what did you do? How could you?” I shook my head and gave her a accusing stare.

She stood up and met my eyes with a look of defiance. “I did what I had to do. I did what you would have done to protect the one that you love. Thomas is more important to me than you will ever know.”

“Lizzie, get away from him.” A voice called out. Lizzie snapped to attention and quickly did as she was told, retreating to the corner of the room as Thomas entered, looking ragged and pale. His once soft, smooth curls of hair were now locked in tangled knots, framing a hollow, sunken in face with horrible, red-rimmed eyes, over which he still wore my black glasses in mockery. The sharp, impressive dark colored uniform of the F.E.C. now hung off his body in disheveled folds, making him look gaunt and skeletal. I could make out bits of dried blood under his nose, obvious proof of a frequent nosebleed, as well as spots of it on the front of his face, near his ears. Something terrible was happening to his body... He walked into the center of the room and shook his head at me. “That was a really stupid thing you did, Bates. Releasing all of those people into the underground tunnels, did it make you feel good to be doing something heroic and unselfish?”

“I did it so that they wouldn’t have to suffer torture at your hands, Thomas. You’re a lunatic.”

Thomas smiled at me. “Oh but that’s where you are wrong. So wrong. Did you not think that a group that size would not go unnoticed? One or two people could have slipped by our guards, but that many, moving all at once were more than enough to trip the sensors and bring the escape attempt to our attention.” My eyes widened. I felt a pit forming in the bottom of my stomach. “You sent every single one of those people to their death. Those tunnels had been rigged with a very powerful explosive device months ago after they were discovered. It was a small precaution to take just in case that they would be used for a invasion. The moment the sensors went off that there was increased activity down there, all it took was the push of a button and boom… no more rebellion. Unfortunately the tunnels collapsed with the force of the blow and right now their lifeless bodies are baking outside in the sun, turning into festering maggot filled piles of food for the Carnivores. Good job, Bates.”

I hung my head down, I failed to listen to Brock’s warning and now they were all dead. I sent them all to their death. I glanced over to Lizzie, who didn’t react to the news, but instead kept her eyes trained on Thomas, hanging on every single word that he said. 

“What do you want from me, Thomas?” I shouted. 

He walked forward, “You know exactly what I want.”

“I told you, I don’t know where Ben is!!” A sudden movement caught my eyes, it was Lizzie flinching in reaction to my shouting. Seeing me looking at her, she quickly averted her eyes and looked away. 

 

Thomas called to her. “Do you have something to say?” 

 

He motioned for her and she joined him at his side, speaking quietly, keeping her head down. “Sir, he doesn’t know where Commander Burnley is. He’s telling the truth.” 

 

Shooting her a look of warning, Thomas scolded her. “He’s been lying to you Lizzie. That’s what he does the best, lie and coerce those close to him into believing it’s the truth. Everyone falls for it.” Thomas frowned and paused for a moment. “I am anxious to be done with this, go get the other one.” He commanded, and Lizzie quickly hurried out the door. “You know Bates, all the time that you were in that coma, and Ben was worried about you, I wondered to myself, what could it possibly be that made you so special to him? You are hardly a remarkable person, I mean, just look at you, you’re weak and pathetic. After some thought, I realized that it’s not who you are that he needs, it’s what you are. You are the kind of person that he can manipulate, and bend to his will. You can’t stand up to him, or defy him because he would never allow it. You call it love? I call it abuse. Think about it, he tears you apart every single time that you see him, and you love him for it. This will go on until it becomes too much and eventually it will destroy you and consume you from the inside out. It’s emotional manipulation. You hold on to something that can never be, and will never be. How long have you fought for him, turning away friends and family for just one single moment of his time? You need to let him go.” Lizzie returned to the room, followed by two Carnivores, dragging a person with them on his knees. It was Brock. Thomas stepped aside so I could get a better look. Brock’s face was bowed down low, but I could see the damage that had been done. He had large, purple blotches around his eyes and over his cheeks, which were swollen and bruised. Across his forehead was a laceration, deep and puffed out, almost too painful to look at. His lips were cut and bleeding, probably from a shattered tooth which was the result of a beating to the face. He was still wearing the Carnivore uniform but parts of it where the F.E.C. logos had been emblazoned across the material were ripped off, particularly across his chest and arms. The cloth was shredded, and so was the skin underneath, exposing severe lacerations that were already thick with dried blood. I shuddered to think of the creatures clawing at him, digging their talons deep into flesh and fabric alike. 

“Brock.” I whimpered.

Thomas signaled for the Carnivores to bring him forward, each disgusting creature holding him up by an arm, across the room, slowly tilted his head up, to look directly at me. It felt like he was silently accusing me. His beautiful brown eyes looked up, filled with such pain and agony that I had to turn away for a moment out of shame. This was nearly the same look that he had on his face as I forced myself onto him and raped him, and it broke my heart. He had risked everything to come here and take me to safety, and in return I refused him and sent him into the lion’s den alone. 

“Let him go!” I muttered, the words feeling futile and pointless. 

Thomas shook his head. “I am afraid I can’t. I’ve caught quite a prize here now and it’s too valuable to just throw away.” He walked over behind Brock and grabbed a handful of his hair, forcing his head up. Brock closed his eyes and offered no resistance. “You see, this man is a traitor to the F.E.C. and after I turn him in, or what’s left of him, it will bring me high praise in their ranks. But if that wasn’t enough incentive, our little spy here also has a vast knowledge of communication systems and computer coding, which also makes him invaluable to me.” Thomas reached out and ran his fingers alongside of Brock’s jawline. I saw him tremble and shake with repulsion. “And here is the most important thing about Brock, and the one I find most interesting.” I held my breath in my lungs, praying that he didn’t know, he couldn’t know! Brock made sure that the information was private. It had to be. Thomas tilted his head and smiled at me, “Like you, he doesn’t belong here, but was accidentally brought to Prox. And do you know why hmmm? It’s because his soul is bound to yours. He’s the one I was looking for, your lover.” Thomas beamed with delight. “Do you want to know something amusing about the entire situation? The simple fact that I didn’t have to use the visor to extract this bit of information. Your eyes Bates, they betrayed you the moment he was brought in. I would know that look anywhere. You just betrayed him.” 

Lizzie shifted from foot to foot, nervously. 

I looked to him with pleading eyes. “Thomas, look—I told you that I don’t know where Ben is. I can’t give you the information that you are looking for because I don’t have it! Let Brock go and you can do whatever you want to me, please!”

Grinning, Thomas let go of Brock but still remained near him. “I don’t think that you fully understand the intent of what I am doing here, Bates. Yes, I do want information out of you, but now that I have the visor tweaked to perfection, it will be easy getting it from you. I don’t need to torture you anymore.” He ran his fingers over Brock’s shoulders as he spoke, teasing me. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. “Actually, you will find that being connected to the device will bring you great relief, from the agony that I was going to put you through. Because you’ve been so crass to threaten me, and defy me, I am going to use this opportunity to return a little something to you, call it a reward for your lack of cooperation.” Thomas motioned toward Brock. “Bring him down to his knees.” He commanded, and the Carnivores thrust Brock down to the ground with unnecessary force and held him in place. He didn’t make a sound, but I could clearly see pain in his eyes. I knew that look. I’d seen it before. Thomas came over to me and took my glasses off his face, and slid them onto mine. “See your handsome young friend over there? I want you to take one last look at him. You took Benjamin from me, and in return, I will take Brock. It’s only fair, right? I am going to beat him to the last inch of his life, right here before you, just like I promised. Then when he’s weakened, bloody and helpless, I will fuck him into unconsciousness and strip him of the last thing he has left, his dignity. So that the very last thing he will ever experience is the pain in knowing that I’ve violated him, over and over, and that all his devotion and love was nothing more than a worthless waste of time. You could have prevented this, Bates. It will all fall on you.” Thomas stood in front of Brock now, who looked up at him with an intense look of hatred. Thomas laughed at him. “Oh I know you hate me, silly boy. It’s quite alright, everyone does.” With those words, he lashed out and pulled his leg back and then kicked it out, colliding with Brock’s stomach. There was this sickening dull thud sound and Brock pitched forward, gasping for breath. “Come on now, you can surely take more than that.” Thomas stepped forward and kicked him a second, third, fourth time. Each time his foot smashed into his body, Brock did not call out in pain, but remained silent, refusing to give Thomas the pleasure of knowing exactly how much it hurt. With each blow, I could feel Brock’s eyes on me, and I had to look away. I had seen this all before, only I was the one torturing him and the memory sickened me. After the fifth kick, Thomas stopped and took a few steps back, running his fingers through his hair and turning around to look at his handiwork. Holding himself up from the floor on his hands, Brock pushed his bruised body upwards so that he was back on his knees again, staring Thomas down. “Well, aren’t we quite a defiant one?” he said in a mocking tone. Without another word, Thomas pulled his arm back and struck Brock across the face, his fist colliding with Brock’s cheek, the force of the impact causing his head to tilt to the side, but as soon as it happened, he straightened up, to meet Thomas’s gaze. Filled with fury, Thomas threw another punch at Brock, and it landed on his jaw this time, and Brock toppled to the side, with his head bowed low. I wished that he would just stay down, let it be over with. Brock once again brought himself to his knees, locking onto Thomas and spit a mouthful of blood out at him. 

“Stop it Thomas! This is ridiculous! He doesn’t deserve this punishment!” I shouted. 

Rubbing his sore knuckles Thomas nodded. “You know, you’re right. I grow bored of this. Lizzie, fetch the visor for me.”

Lizzie reluctantly walked to the desk and brought out Thomas’s modified visor, handing it to him. He motioned for the Carnivores to grab hold of Brock’s arms again as he slowly walked over to him. “I wanted to experiment with this on you, Bates. But I think it will be more interesting if we use it on our precious little Brock here instead. We’re going to have a picture show. Lizzie, please start the program.” Lizzie walked over to a large monitor on the far end of the wall and turned it on, it flashed to life with a bright blue screen, waiting for input. Hurrying back over to the desk, she started to work at the computer. I looked to Thomas confused. “Along with a few other adjustments I made, we are now fully capable of watching the patients’ memories, live and in full screen as he relives them. The program Lizzie is queuing up is one that will allow me to select the worst, more excruciating painful memory of his life and let him re-live it, over and over while we watch it here on the screen. Isn’t that fun?” 

“…no… please…” Brock whispered, keeping his eyes down on the floor. “…. don’t make me.. I can’t live… through that again…” I could feel the anguish in his voice. 

I knew exactly what he was talking about. I tried to pull my arms out of the straps, and kick my ankles free, but everything was bound too tightly. I couldn’t help him. 

Thomas clicked a few buttons on the visor and it started to glow. “Not to worry Brock, while you’re suffering in your own little dream world, putting on a show for us, every bit of knowledge you have, all that beautiful intelligence locked away in your pretty little head will be slowly uploading, trickling information back to the F.E.C. to use at their pleasure. And believe me; they WILL make use of it.” He reached out and ran his fingers through Brock’s hair casually. “When all that is over and we’ve been thoroughly entertained and satisfied, I am going to send your mindless shell of a body back to the F.E.C. so that they can reformat you into a much more adequate soldier. You won’t have to be a spy anymore, isn’t that wonderful? You will finally earn that uniform you are wearing; you will finally be one of us.” 

Brock squirmed, trying his best to pull away from the Carnivores as Thomas brought the visor forward and placed it on Brock’s face. I could see the look of sheer and utter terror as it slid onto his face and the program booted up. Thomas motioned to Lizzie. “Start it.” Her fingers moved across the keyboard and Brock looked at me in desperation. She hesitated for a moment her fingers hovering over the enter key. 

“Don’t do this Thomas.” I begged, looking at Brock. “You’re going to kill him.”

Thomas grinned. “No. You’re going to kill him.” He laughed. “Lizzie, engage the visor please.”

Lizzie’s finger hit the enter key and I cringed, waiting for those needles and probes to penetrate Brock’s skull. I couldn’t stand to watch. I didn’t want to see any of this. As the command was entered, much to my surprise the Carnivores holding onto Brock suddenly let go, their clawed hands dropping down to their sides and becoming inactive. Thomas yelled something at Lizzie, but she was on her feet in seconds, rushing over to me and unlacing the bonds that held me down to the chair. I watched as Brock rose up, pulling the still inactive visor off his face and tossing it across the room. He whirled around and grabbed hold of Thomas by the back of his neck before he could react and slammed his head down twice against the heavy metal desk. The sound of his skull making contact echoed loudly in the small room, and he sank down to his knees momentarily stunned. Fumbling with the silver buckles, Lizzie finally managed to free me, and then rushed over to where Brock had thrown the visor and picked it up. Both Brock and I turned toward her, giving Thomas the moment he needed. Taking advantage of the distraction, he caught Brock off guard and punched him in the stomach, and he toppled over, unable to breathe for a few moments, and then came at me, his hands sliding around my neck and starting to squeeze. “Thomas! No!!” Lizzie shouted, and ran forward, still clutching the visor in her small hands, which now had a frightening flashing red color to it. I knew what she had done, she had programed it for execution mode. Gathering all my strength, I lunged forward, pushing Thomas off me, and giving her the change to take the visor and slip it onto his face. Instantly upon contact, the fiber optic cables injected the needles into his head, fracturing the sides of his skull, lighting up with a horrible brilliance, flashing on and off, emitting a high pitched tone that was almost deafening to the ears. He lashed out, grabbing hold of Lizzie and lifting her body up a few inches off the ground by her neck and slammed her head against the glass window of the observation room over and over. The glass shattered from the impact, weaving a macabre spider web pattern of broken glass behind her head. As he pulled his arm away, more and blood flowed freely from the back of her head and neck. Lizzie’s eyes closed and she went limp. Brock hurried over to the computer and his eyes scanned frantically over the display, finally finding what he was looking for, hit various buttons, turning up the input speed from the device, and Thomas let go of her, and her body dropped to the floor like a broken rag doll. The monitor on the far end of the room flashed a series of images all at once of Thomas's life, from being born into slavery to the F.E.C., his escape and formation of the Messengers, and even time spent with Ben for all to see. Thousands, all at once, intermixing with one another so fast that it was almost hard to tell what was what. He put his hands over his face and writhed on the floor, screaming out in pain and agony. Droplets of blood began to drop from his ears, eyes and nose.

Brock looked over to me. “It’s your call Dustin. Tell me what you want me to do. I can keep him like this for hours until his body gives out and his brain is fried.”

I looked down at Thomas Bell, lying on the floor in front of me, his body contorted into various shapes as the agony of the visor flowed through him, and he was in so much pain. I couldn’t forget what he had done to Benjamin, the pain that he had put him through. I vowed to kill this man, take his life for taking the life of another. It seemed fair and right, justice being served. I remembered the moment when I realized what I had done to Brock, as he clung to life, he never once begged for mercy or showed any signs of hatred. With his dying breath, he told me that he loved me, because he knew that it really wasn’t me. I was locked away, far inside the deep recesses of my own mind, choosing to let insanity take over me and hide behind the Monster that was inside. Thomas was suffering the same fate. He once had been a good man, brainwashed and driven insane by his own desires. He was the leader of a thousand souls that he had rescued from slavery, a man of substance who everyone looked up to. A broken person who needed someone to believe in him and some time to heal. Who was I to make the final call? Could Thomas really be saved? Would it be possible to bring him back from all that insanity, that hatred? Is it worth risking? There could still be good inside of him. Brock waited at the keyboard and I looked up to the screen, just in time to see the image of Thomas reaching forward and pulling the visor off Ben’s face. Ben’s silent scream filled my head with a thousand emotions all at once. I looked over to Brock. “End it, kill him.”

Nodding, Brock hit a series of keystrokes and the visor finished its execution program and self-destruction cycle. The flashing increased as did Thomas’s moans and then suddenly in a few seconds, it went dark, and his body stopped moving. The glass lense which once emitted the soothing orchid glow was now black and burnt. Cracks formed in the material and it fell pieces down to the floor off his face, taking with it the twisted, bloody bits of fiber optic cable that had been inserted into his head. Thomas’s body lay motionless in the center of the floor. I glanced over to Brock, who looked relieved and satisfied. 

Turning my attention to Lizzie, we ran over to the side of the infirmary, stepping past all the bits of broken glass, as I knelt down next to her, I tried to slip my arms underneath her to hold her in my arms, but Brock shook his head. Her neck and back were broken. I reached out and touched her arm and her eyes fluttered open. “Mr. Bates.. you’re… okay… seems I’ve…been.. saying that.. . a lot.” She smiled at me and I took her hand and held onto it. 

I fought to hold back my tears. “Yes Lizzie, you saved us. Thank you.”

Her gaze shifted to Brock. “I.. tried… to pay attention… to you.. Because you’re so.. smart..” He smiled one of his famous bright Brock smiles at her, the one that made him who he is, a truly original, beautiful soul, not afraid to be himself and shine, and it made her happy. “… thank you … for taking.. a chance.. on me.”

Brock reached out and brushed the hair away from her eyes. “I found in you, what was lost in me. You showed me that it’s never too late to forgive.” He glanced at me for a moment and then whispered to her and bent down to lightly kiss her forehead. I was overcome with emotion. I looked away, taking off my glasses and wiping away at my eyes.

“dustin.. is.. thomas…?” She whispered.

I shook my head. “Shhh don’t worry about him please. It’s taken care of.”

Tears formed in the corner of her eyes and streamed down her face, mixing with the bright red blood. “.. is he…?”

Brock stood up and went over to where Thomas lay on the floor, unmoving. He picked up Thomas's wrist and felt for a pulse, then shook his head. 

“Lizzie, I am sorry.” 

She drew in a breath and held it in her lungs for a moment and then laced her fingers tightly together with mine. “…i tried…. i wanted him.. to… be .. whole.. again…. but.. I .. failed.. . don’t give… up… Dustin…… all it.. takes… is one.. person.. to believe.. in………. you..” As she spoke her last word, her fingers dropped from mine and her eyes went closed. I could feel the one last breath of life leave her body. I slipped my arms around her broken body and held it close to mine, rocking back and forth. 

My thoughts were interrupted by Brock suddenly getting up and dashing across the room. I looked at him curiously. He went to one of the medical cabinets and brought out a device that looked vaguely familiar and tossed it on the floor next to Thomas, then began to pull out cables and switch on buttons. “Brock, what are you doing?” I asked.

“There are only two ways to reverse the effects of the visor. One is a soft reset that can only be done from the F.E.C. mainframe and the original device that was used for the conversion process. Obviously that’s out of the question now, but…” He spoke quickly, his nimble fingers spreading out cables and wires from the box. “The other way is a hard reset, which involves temporarily stopping the patient’s brain waves and heart. If these signals are interrupted, for the length of 90 seconds or longer, all previous programming will be deleted.”

“You mean that you can save him?” 

“In theory, yes. But it hasn’t been successfully tested yet. Thomas has been deceased for over three minutes, making him the perfect candidate.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I just gave Brock permission to kill Thomas and now here he was, trying to save him. I gently eased Lizzie’s body down onto the ground and knelt down with Brock, who had now ripped open Thomas’s shirt and was attaching the electrodes. He stopped for a moment and looked at me. “Dustin, you can’t seriously be having doubts about this? You know that none of what happened is his fault, right?”

 

“What if it doesn’t work, Brock? What happens if you bring him back and he’s still brainwashed? I am not sure I want to gamble with that.”

 

Brock sighed. “Then if that’s the case, we will confine him and take him with us to the Messenger base to the North, turn him over to them and let them deal with him. Dustin, stop for a minute and think with your brain instead of your heart. I am sure that there are other reasons why you’d like him to stay dead, but we have a chance here to save a man.” He continued to fumble with the wires. “I am not going to let you stop me from trying.”

 

I scowled at Brock. I couldn’t hate him for his words though, he was right. “The reasons why I want him dead are are the same reasons why you want him alive.” I scowled at Brock. The words escaped me before I realized what I was saying and I instantly regretted saying them, but it was the truth. If Thomas was alive, when we found Benjamin, there was a slim possibility that they would get back together, if Ben chose Thomas over me, which would mean that I would lose him. It was a win/lose situation. 

Brock dropped the electrodes and stood up. “Let’s go then. Let’s just turn our backs on him like everyone else did, and pretend everything is going to be okay. For fuck’s sake, Lizzie died in your arms telling you that she wanted someone to take a chance on him and believe in him! How can you be so damn cold? What changed you?”

His words were harsh and cruel, stabbing into my heart like a thousand poisoned daggers. He was defending a man who was a lunatic, and a murderer. He had done unspeakable things and deserved his punishment. It didn’t sit well with me that he could defend such a person like this. Brock said that I had changed, but hearing these words made me feel the same way about him. He would never willingly start a confrontation with me, he was always so gentle and caring, especially with my feelings and emotions. I thought that he had loved me without question, implicitly and totally. Could it possibly be that I could lose both of them? What had happened to us that brought us to this point? I wasn’t ready to concede defeat on the subject, but we were running out of time and I had to make a decision.

 

“How do we do this?” I asked, flatly and without emotion. I didn’t notice if Brock picked up on the distaste in my tone, but it didn’t matter; for better or worse, we were going to bring Thomas Bell back from the dead. 

 

Handing me some wires, Brock instructed me where to attach them on his chest and then turned some dials on the defibrillator. In the thick silence that passed between us, I could hear the machine slowly powering up, and then a dull whirring noise from somewhere overhead, outside of the base. “Oh fuck!” Brock said, turning up the power on the device. “That would be the second wave of Carnivores come to investigate the sudden shut down of the assault troop. They've beaten the Messengers. We’ve got to speed this up, they will be here soon.” Flicking the main power switch, Brock held his finger over the button and waited for a moment before hitting it. “Dustin, if this works… If Thomas lives…”

 

I looked up, right into Brock’s eyes. I knew what he was asking. “It changes nothing, Brock.” He tore his gaze off of me, and flipped the switch, sending jolts of energy into Thomas’s chest. His body jumped off the floor a few inches and there was a small blip on the screen for a second, and then nothing. Brock hit him again with another dose of electricity, two blips appeared… and nothing. Moving quickly, he upped the ampage on the device to full power and hit it again. We waited. The silence was almost unbearable. Then it happened, one blip followed by another and another. Thomas pulse grew steady. We got him. Brock picked up Thomas’s wrist and nodded. The crisis was over, for the moment. He started to remove the wires and I slowly rose to my feet, walking slowly around the room. This is not how I wanted things to end. I found a white sheet in the storage closet and draped it over Lizzie’s body. She was so young and had so much of her life ahead of her, but she made a mistake. She was willing to give her heart to someone who couldn’t share his with her, and for that she paid the ultimate price. 

 

“What are we going to do now Brock?” 

He stood up very slowly, the massive amount of damage inflicted on his body by Thomas's kicking and punching finally starting to catch up with him. I could tell that he was in pain. “There’s only one way out of here that I know of, the vehicle that I came in on. I stashed it on the far side of the base where no one would find it.” He bent down and slipped the wrist communicator off Thomas’s wrist that he had stolen and slipped it back on, punching a few buttons. “I have the coordinates saved. It’s not very far from here, if we can get to it while the Carnivores here are still offline, then we have a chance. The other Messenger base is to the north, I found the location while I was searching for you. If we leave now, we should be there by daybreak tomorrow, but Prox gets ungodly frigid cold at night. We will have to find shelter someplace along the way, if we’re not being pursued.”

 

“What about him?” I pointed to Thomas.

 

“I suspect that he will probably be out for some time. We can put him between us on the vehicle; we don’t have any other choice.”

 

Narrowing my eyes, I motioned to Thomas. “I want his hands bound.”

 

“Dustin, I don’t think….”

 

I snapped at Brock. “I don’t care what you think! You didn’t see what he did to Dr. Wise, to Benjamin. I am not willing to risk it.”

 

Brock didn’t say a word, but turned away from me. I could tell that I hurt his feelings. I felt awful. He left the room silently and wandered into the observation area alone. Having him here with me was both a blessing and a curse. I needed to tell him so much, so many things, but I just couldn’t seem to find the words. I watched Thomas’s chest rise and fall on the floor, steady with each breath and sighed. All the answers I needed were right there on the floor, but would they be the ones that I wanted and needed or the ones that I deserved? A few moments later, Brock returned with a length of plastic cable, which he used to bind Thomas’s wrists together loosely. I watched him, and noticed that he didn’t pull the cord tight; he left enough room for him to be comfortable, and possibly escape. I didn’t say a word. He went over to the computer and frowned at it. There was a blinking countdown flashing on it. “The Carnivores only have about 10 minutes of deactivation time left before they come back online, and that’s when the new ranks will arrive, we have to leave now, Dustin.” He pointed to Thomas. “I’ll carry him.” 

 

“No.” I said shaking my head. “We’ll do it together.” Brock smiled at me and we picked up the unconscious man, placing him between us and made our way through the twisting halls of the wrecked Messenger base and then outside. A blast of dry, warm air hit me firmly in the face as we pushed open the heavy steel door and stepped out. Prox was normally a very barren planet with little to no vegetation or water supply at all, however when it did rain, it would come down in torrential downpours that lasted for days. I looked up to the sky and offered a silent prayer that we wouldn’t have to deal with the weather on our journey. Brock led us to the outer perimeter, following the tracking device on his wrist to a rocky ridge where his vehicle, a medium sized four wheeled ATV was waiting. The wind had picked up considerably, kicking up dirt and dust in my face as we climbed onto the vehicle. Brock took the lead, and put Thomas behind him, and I sat behind him, helping to steady his weight. Brock started the engine, revving it and bringing it into life as I glanced up to the skies. Through the whirling sand, I could see a flight of F.E.C. airships descending onto the Messenger’s base. They landed in the main courtyard and the doors spilled open, a sea of black Carnivores rushing in like the tide, completely overtaking the facility. So many lives had been lost here, some of which I was personally responsible for. Everything that Thomas Bell and the rebellion worked so hard to achieve, their dream of freedom now completely destroyed. 

 

Traveling through the treacherous landscape of Prox was a nightmare. There were huge hills that almost ascended to a near vertical 90 degree angle, twisted rocky canyons that snaked through immeasurable crevasses, and flat barren plains that seemed to stretch on forever. The temperature soared well into the 100’s during the day as we drove to the coordinates, making my throat parched and my skin crack and dry out. It felt as though were had been driving for days when Brock stopped. The wind died down and he got off the ATV, grabbing the packs that were attached to the rear of it and hefting them onto his back. “Why have we stopped?” I asked.

He came over and took Thomas from me, letting his body rest against his shoulder. “It’s going to be night soon, we need shelter or else we will freeze to death, we can't stay out here.” He pointed to a small cave just over a rocky, treacherous hill. “That’s the only place on radar for miles.”

“It doesn’t look very comfortable.” I said.

Brock slid his arms underneath Thomas, lifting him up. “I don’t think the creatures that might possibly live in there are concerned about your comfort, Dustin.” He laughed. I rushed over and helped him with Thomas, dragging the man up the hill as best as we could, until we reached the entrance of the cave. It was dark and damp, but luckily devoid of any living creatures. Brock put Thomas down onto the soft sand and began to rummage through his bags looking for his fire starting kit. I sat near the entrance, watching the sun set. It was beautiful and a deep red color that smeared its light across the blue sky with a fine paint brush. Prox was supposed to be a place where I could start all over again, begin a new life and make amends for all that I had done. If this were the case, then why did it feel like an ending instead of a beginning?

As night fell, and we settled in, Brock made Thomas as comfortable as he could, layering him with a few blankets until he was nearly invisible underneath all the mounds of fabric then went about fishing out some dried bits of processed meat from his pack for us to eat. It was a silent, uneventful dinner. Neither of us felt like talking. We were both mentally and physically exhausted. Occasionally I would glance over to him and catch sight of his face in the dim firelight, his eyes and cheeks covered in harsh, purple bruises from the beating. He had taken so much pain and punishment to his slender body; I honestly didn’t know what kept him going. 

Fatigue set in, and I found myself growing sleepy. Brock told me to rest, he would stay up and take the first watch, then wake me when he needed sleep. I was too tired to argue. I slipped down into the sand, shivering, wishing that I could have just one of those blankets he had tossed on top of Thomas and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Hours later, I woke up to the sound of a dull beeping noise. I sat up suddenly, the blanket that had been placed over my body falling off my shoulders and piling up around my midsection. I clutched at the edges of the fabric. It was one of Thomas’s blankets, Brock had given it to me. I glanced over at him and there was no change. He was still buried in the mountain of blankets, creating a shelter from the cold. I drew my attention to Brock who was fussing with his wrist communication device and not looking happy. Noticing me out of the corner of his eye, he kept looking at the dull screen, not bothering to look up and acknowledge me. “Did I wake you?” he asked. 

“No.” I lied. “Just not accustom to outdoor living I guess.” I laughed, pulling the blanket around me. Pointing to the device, I asked. “What’s up with that?”

Brock frowned. “I’ve been trying to see what’s going on with the F.E.C. I want to know what their next move is going to be, but it looks like they may have blocked me, or else something big is going down, commanding communication silence.” He shrugged “I guess it was just a matter of time, a calculated risk that I took.”

I felt bad for him. Back home, he was brilliant with computers and electronic devices, but never was given the opportunity to really show off his abilities. Here, on Prox, he was a genius. “You can’t get into their systems anymore?” I asked. He had obviously just given me the answer to my redundant question, but he was speaking to me now, and I didn’t want him to stop.

“Yeah. Every time I try to access the system, all I get is a strange message about something called ‘The Eden Project’. I don’t know what it is--in all the months being with the F.E.C., I’ve never heard mention to it at all. Until now. Whatever it is, it can’t be good.” Brock dimmed the screen of the device and leaned his head back against the wall of the cave, closing his eyes and pulling his black scarf over them for a moment. “Do you ever wish you could go back to the way things were, Dustin? A more simple time where you were in school trying to get your degree, and I was back at Verizon? Before we got swept away with everything?”

I thought about his words for long moments, my eyes fixed on the crackling fire. “I admit that it was so much easier back then, all that seems like a lifetime away now. Come to think on it, Verizon probably got assimilated by the F.E.C.” I laughed, and much to my surprise, he laughed right along with me. “Ah but in all seriousness. I could never want to go back to that life, we’ve been through a lot of stuff, you and me Brock, but we’ve done it together. Those are the memories that you can’t delete or put a block on, they are mine and I consider each and every one of them special.”

He dropped the scarf down away from his eyes and stared at me. “Dustin are you cold? Come over here it’s warmer here by the fire, join me?”

I moved across the small cave dragging the blanket with me, and came to sit next to him, he was right, it was warmer here. Without warning, he reached out and slipped one of his arms around my back, pulling me closer to his thin body. He was shivering too. I whipped the blanket around so that it could cover the both of us and he lowered his head down a bit, to rest it against my shoulder. I didn’t know what to do, so I simply kept looking forward, staring at the fire. “Were you lonely?” I asked. 

“Hmm?”

“It must have been hard on you, there at the F.E.C. by yourself, Brock.” I don’t know why I was asking such nonsense questions, I felt as though I was reaching for something; luring him into a conversation that he didn’t want.

“It was exciting, at first. Every time that I sat down at one of the communication stations, scanning Prox, looking for you, I knew I was in danger of being discovered, and it really gets the adrenaline running. If I miss typed a command, or accessed the wrong file, I knew that it would be instant death for me. Knowing this, I did it every single day. From the moment that I opened my eyes in the morning to the moment I went to bed at night, I kept hope alive that I would find you. I’d often think about you being out there, lost on Prox somewhere like Ben said you were, all alone and confused. I knew that I had the power to find you, and I wasn’t going to stop until I did.” His voice was soft, soothing and comforting. I could listen to him forever. “Every week, I’d contact Benjamin, to find out if he had any information to share with me, but it was always a sharp and definite ‘No’. I kept my communication with Lizzie to a bare minimum, I couldn’t risk exposing her. After some time, my attempts to check in with Benjamin started to go unanswered. At first I thought that perhaps the Messengers had been discovered, and the base destroyed, so hacked the surveillance system and used it to find out what was going on.”

I glanced up at him. “Those video cameras in Ben’s private quarters…”

Brock nodded and pulled me a little closer. I could feel his thin fingers resting on my hip bone. “Lizzie installed them under my guidance. I wanted to know what was going on. If no one would tell me, then I would find out on my own.”

“So you saw…. Ben.. and… Thomas.” I mumbled.

To my surprise, Brock reached out and took hold of my right hand, lacing his fingers together with mine. “I did. I saw it all happen. I saw Thomas Bell fall in love with Benjamin.” I let out a sigh and squeezed Brock’s hand tightly. “It’s not what you think, Dustin. Thomas, the real Thomas had never known what it is like to be in love. He was born into slavery with the F.E.C. He didn’t really have parents, siblings, or friends. Children that are born into captivity there are usually mindless drones that they use for breeding, or meaningless trivial work taking care of the base, or worse.. Food for the Carnivores. Only a few select individuals make it into their 20’s and given the opportunity to make themselves useful. Thomas was highly intelligent and the F.E.C. saw this and used it to their advantage, training him in the most exclusive and powerful communication systems. Then one day it happened. No one knows why or how, it could have been a mysterious signal from another planet, a piece of music or a computer malfunction, but he just… woke up. He saw what they were doing and knew it was wrong. Taking a few others with him, he escaped and found the abandoned base that would eventually be the home of the Messengers. He gathered a large following, sending parties out on a regular basis to try to rescue more souls from the F.E.C. Even through all of this, Thomas was still a slave to the F.E.C., he worked from day till night, trying to find ways to infiltrate, spy and demolish those who stood against him. It wasn’t until Benjamin arrived that things changed.”

One of the logs on the fire suddenly cracked and I jumped slightly, a bit startled. “How do you mean?” I asked, moving back into position next to him. When I was this close to Brock’s body, I didn’t feel cold. Not at all. He knew how to keep me warm.

“Feelings, emotions, these things have no place with the F.E.C., which is pretty much all Thomas had known up to this point in his life. Then Benjamin comes along, and gains his trust. The two of them work together, shoulder to shoulder for months, Thomas always watching Benjamin with interest, completely star struck by his courage, strength and charm. He idolizes Benjamin. I think you know exactly what I am talking about.” He stopped for a moment, hesitating. I remained silent and then he spoke again, with a soft voice. “Then one day, Thomas walks in on him, to find tears streaming down his eyes, not the strong indestructible man that he looked up to, but a different, broken man that he had never seen before and his heart starts to break. Slowly, Ben’s defenses are shattered and he tells Thomas how much he is hurting, how lonely he is. All it took was one tender touch and Thomas was completely his. Being in love for the first time, experiencing these changes to your mind and body without fully understanding why they are happening to you can be quite a confusing thing. On top of that, having it all happen with Benjamin Burnley, an older, more experienced person was completely overwhelming.”

I unlaced my fingers from Brocks, gazing at those long, slender digits which would probably never get to touch a guitar again with. “Do you mean that… Thomas was…?”

He thankfully cut me off before I could say it. “Yes. Thomas had never been with anyone before. He was a virgin. Now you see why he became so attached to Benjamin. You never forget your first. That is one of the reasons why the visor malfunctioned and caused problems when Thomas put it on. He was dealing with emotions and feelings that he had never experienced before, and then assaulted by a massive amount of information all at once, it short circuited his brain.” 

I waited. I had a feeling that Brock’s next words were going to be about Ben using Thomas, about how he only got what he wanted, emotional and physical support and then turned his back on him when I came back into the picture, but surprisingly he didn’t. I didn’t think I was ready to deal with another round of confrontation. He chose to stay silent himself and stare at the fire. I wanted to lean over and kiss him. He was so close to me, our bodies pressed up against one another under the blanket. His fingers moved down the side of my hip underneath the blanket, sending a wave of pleasure down my spine. He turned and looked at me; I melted under the gaze of those sweet, deep, brown eyes that sparkled in the firelight. I could almost sense what he wanted, because I wanted it too. The urge was too strong to resist. I parted my lips in preparation, drawing breath into my lungs, and said “Brock?”

“Yes?” 

I exhaled and asked. “Do you know where Ben is?”

 

I saw the light go out in his eyes and before he could answer, the pile of blankets in the corner moved. I looked over and Thomas slowly pulling himself into the sitting position, blinking, trying to force his eyes open.

“Where am I?”


End file.
